The Bel Air Country Club is a social club located in Bel Air, Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. The property includes an 18-hole golf course

Golf course

A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...

 and tennis courts.

History

Located in Bel Air, the club was founded in 1927, financed by Alphonzo Bell

Alphonzo Bell

Alphonzo Edward Bell Sr. was an American oil multi-millionaire, real estate developer, philanthropist, and champion tennis player...

 and designed by noted southern California architect Carleton Winslow

Carleton Winslow

Carleton Monroe Winslow , also known as Carleton Winslow Sr., was an American architect, and key proponent of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in Southern California in the early 20th Century....

. The golf course, opened soon after, was designed by William P. Bell and George Thomas, measuring 6,491 yards and a par 70. Described as "exclusive", the club offers one of the most challenging golf courses on the West Coast, and is consistently ranked as one of the highest-rated golf courses in California. The club hosted the 1976 U.S. Men's Amateur Championship, won by Bill Sander. Alfred Hitchcock's former home on Bellagio Road overlooks the course.

Notable members

The Club, as it commonly referred to, serves as a social location for many notable figures. They include Jack Wagner

Jack Wagner (actor)

Peter John "Jack" Wagner, II is an American actor and singer, best-known for his roles on the soap operas General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, and Melrose Place.-Early years:...

, Kelsey Grammer

Kelsey Grammer

Allen Kelsey Grammer is an American actor and comedian. He is most widely known for his two-decade portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the sitcoms Cheers and Frasier...

, Jim Nantz

Jim Nantz

James William Nantz, III is an American sportscaster, known primarily for his work with CBS Sports television.-Early life:...

, Barron Hilton

Barron Hilton

William Barron Hilton I is an American business magnate, socialite, and hotel heir. He is the former co-chairman of the Hilton Hotels chain, and the original owner of the Los Angeles Chargers...

, Mac Davis

Mac Davis

Mac Davis is a country music singer, songwriter, and actor originally from Lubbock, Texas who has enjoyed much crossover success...

, Angelo Mozilo

Angelo Mozilo

Angelo R. Mozilo was the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Countrywide Financial until July 1, 2008. Condé Nast Portfolio ranked Mozilo second on their list of "Worst American CEOs of All Time".-Life and career:...

, Jerry West

Jerry West

Jerry Alan West is a retired American basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . His nicknames include "Mr...

, Luke Wilson

Luke Wilson

Luke Cunningham Wilson is an American film actor known for his roles in Old School, Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde, Idiocracy and Death at a Funeral.-Early life:...

, Robert Loggia

Robert Loggia

Robert Loggia is an American film and television actor and director.- Early life :Loggia, an Italian American, was born on Staten Island, the son of Elena Blandino, a homemaker, and Benjamin Loggia, a shoemaker, both of whom were born in Sicily, Italy...

, Teddy Forstmann, James Woods

James Woods

James Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...

, Glenn Frey

Glenn Frey

Glenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...

, Pete Sampras

Pete Sampras

Pete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former world no. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time....

, Joe Namath

Joe Namath

Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...

, Chris O'Donnell

Chris O'Donnell

Christopher Eugene "Chris" O'Donnell is an American actor. He has played Robin in two Batman films, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, Charlie Simms in Scent of a Woman, Finn Dandridge in Grey's Anatomy, Peter Garrett in Vertical Limit, and more recently, Jack McAuliffe in The Company. O'Donnell...

, Vin Scully

Vin Scully

Vincent Edward Scully is an American sportscaster, known primarily as the play-by-play voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team on Prime Ticket, KCAL-TV and KABC radio...

, Al Michaels

Al Michaels

Alan Richard "Al" Michaels is an American television sportscaster. Now employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent members of his profession...

, Dennis Quaid

Dennis Quaid

Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...

, Phil McGraw

Phil McGraw

Phillip Calvin McGraw best known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality, author, former psychologist, and the host of the television show Dr. Phil, which debuted in 2002...

, Bill Victor, Carroll Shelby, and Larry Brown

Larry Brown

-Athletes:* Larry Brown , former NHL ice hockey player* Larry Brown , , NCAA, ABA and NBA player and coach-American football:* Larry Brown , NFL cornerback and Super Bowl MVP...

.

Honorary members

The Club also has a program that exists to remember and honor well-known individuals; they are called honorary members. These include Arnold Palmer

Arnold Palmer

Arnold Daniel Palmer is an American professional golfer, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men's professional golf. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955...

, Amy Alcott

Amy Alcott

Amy Alcott is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1975, and won five major championships and 29 LPGA Tour events in all. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame....

, Byron Nelson

Byron Nelson

John Byron Nelson, Jr. was an American PGA Tour golfer between 1935 and 1946.Nelson and two other well known golfers of the time, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, were born within seven months of each other in 1912...

, Greg Norman

Greg Norman

Gregory John Norman AO is an Australian professional golfer and entrepreneur who spent 331 weeks as the world's Number 1 ranked golfer in the 1980s and 1990s...

, Ken Venturi

Ken Venturi

Kenneth Venturi is an American former professional golfer and golf broadcaster.-Early years and amateur career:Venturi was born in San Francisco, California. He learned golf from an early age, and developed his game at Harding Park Golf Course and other public courses in the area...

, and Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

.

External links

• Bel Air Country Club

34.079294°N 118.450218°W